Aalekhya Malladi
Assistant Professor of South Asian Religions
Ph.D. (2022) Emory University
M.A. (2016) Columbia University
B.A. (2014) Rutgers University, New Brunswick
South Asian religions, Hindu traditions, gender, sexuality, devotion, asceticism, Telugu literature, ethnography and religion
Aalekhya Malladi received her doctorate degree from the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University in 2022. Her research project focused on Telugu poet and ascetic Vengamamba (1735-1817) investigates the texts and the life histories of this polymath, and conceives of a distinct female perspective on devotion and detachment. This project also examines her hagiographies and the rituals performed at her shrine, which illuminate the way that her at-times transgressive compositions and life histories have been tamed and curtailed by a hagiographical tradition that shapes her life into that of an ideal "female devotee".
Aalekhya's research interests include the intersections of bhakti yoga and gender, and Telugu literature. She is fluent in spoken Telugu, Hindi, and French, and has training in reading classical Telugu and Sanskrit.